So we are now over half way through our Water Babies course and little dude is finally starting to enjoy the water. You can see how we got on in our first 2 classes and what we learnt here. Little dude really didn’t enjoy the first 2 classes and spent much of it crying and clinging on to me, and promptly fell asleep at the end of the classes, whilst still in the water. But luckily things have gotten lots better and he is now enjoying his classes, which is a huge relief and really lovely to see.
You may have noticed we skipped Week 3, this is because little dude came down with a crappy cold so we decided not to attend class that week. But for weeks 4 & 5 Daddy got in the pool with him instead. I have been practicing some of the songs and actions with Elian in the bath every week and I am hoping that is helping him feel more comfortable in the water during class. Plus I am making sure he has a good feed and nap before we go as we think he was tired during the first 2 classes and this added to his grumpiness! Even Aunty Briony has taken him for a class when both me and Jon were busy photographing a wedding and he loved it
So what have we learnt in weeks 4-7. Well both me and Jon have now taken him under the water ourselves rather than Sian doing it. He still isn’t quite getting that he needs to not breath whilst under the water so we still get some spluttering and crying when he comes up but hopefully this will come with time. We are now taking him under the water multiple times during each class, so he’ll get the hand of it in the end.
We’ve been teaching the babies to hold on to the side of the pool just incase they ever fall in. Obviously he is still really tiny so doesn’t understand yet, but again this is something that will come with time and practice. We teach them by sitting them on our legs close to the wall and holding their hands over the edge of the pool and repeating “hold on” in a strong voice for a few seconds.
When we swim them on their tummies with our hands under their upper body Elian will now kick his little legs and smile at you, or his new trick is to poke his tongue out! He’s quite happy being swam around the pool. We are also teaching them to float on their backs by resting them against our shoulders and chest and using pool noodles to allow us to float with them resting on us. He likes this and will often kick his legs about.
So as you can see he is really enjoying himself now (Sian says he is the most improved!) and we have signed up for the next set of classes straight after we finish this set. We have 3 more classes to go, but sadly we are going to miss the last one as we are going away for a week to Scotland. If you want your little ones to be confident in the water from a young age, or you are worried about taking them in the water yourself, I would totally suggest trying out Water Babies or a similar class as they are great.
